John is a personal coaching client and has been getting coached for several months. Since he's started coaching he's been resisting filling in a time sheet so we can both see where he is spending his time.

I find he's not the only one. It seems that many people avoid doing this very simple activity... call it laziness, procrastination, being allergic to writing things down, being scared of what they might find out or being undisciplined. The benefit of doing this for a period of 1 - 2 weeks helps identify where you spend your time either productively or unproductively.

Anyhow John overcame procrastinating and finally recorded what he was doing each hour of every day for 3 days. Although that timeframe wasn't long enough, he realized just by reviewing that time that he wasn't getting much done. We both knew that however the timesheet not only confirmed it but also pinpointed the timewasters. He could see how he was allowing himself to get interrupted and distracted unnecessarily.

He had a major realization that his sleeping patterns were stealing 2 hours of his productive time each day. John was going to bed too late at night, sleeping in for too long in the morning so by the time he got to work he had wasted half the morning! That meant he was wasting 10 hours of his working week which was costing him financially $400 a day or $2000 a week as he charged $200 an hour for his time.

John had resisted doing this simple activity for weeks and by doing so, the problem persisted. What was also interesting, John had never mentioned that he was constantly tired, although he felt it he never verbalised it.

The Final Word

Small business owners often waste money trying to make more money. They look at everything else except themselves. Look at yourself first and identify how you can be more productive.

Avoid procrastinating and get enough sleep!

To find out more about ways to organize your time, your systems and your marketing so you have a business that is run effectively, much more profitable than it is now and still enjoy time off, get yourself a copy of the proven Productivity and Profit Home Study System.

It's the proven system I've used for years with my personal coaching clients and it will work for you too.

Author's Bio: 

About the Author:

Lorraine Pirihi is the founder of productivityqueen.com and creator of “The Productivity and Profit System” the complete one-on-one training program for solopreneurs and small businesses.

Lorraine is also the celebrated author of “The Productivity and Profit Home Study System” which helps you to easily organize your time, your marketing, your people and your systems so you are much more profitable and have time to enjoy life. This is available at www.productivityqueen.com Online Store.

Lorraine is a productivity expert, leading business coach, author and speaker. She’s known for her practical approach, combining a unique blend of innovative, straight-shooter, no-fluff strategies that really work.

Being in her own business for over a decade she is committed to helping small business owners and entrepreneurs work less, earn more and have a life!

For FREE weekly ‘how-to’ tips to increase your productivity and your profitability visit www.productivityqueen.com.